UPS concludes Teamsters talks with local contract
United Parcel Service wrapped up negotiations on a new contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters when it reached agreement Sunday evening with a union local in Chicago representing 7,500 UPS workers there.
Frank Wsol, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 710, said the basic financial package mirrors the national agreement reached by the Teamsters and UPS on July 16, but that the local agreement also includes significant pension improvements.
Wsol said he expects ballots will be mailed out in about six weeks to members of Local 710 employed by UPS. Earlier last week, Local 705 in Chicago, representing 13,000 UPS employees, also settled with the company.
The agreement followed 14 hours of negotiations on Saturday and a full day of talks on Sunday, Wsol said.
The Teamsters settlements stood in sharp contrast to the bitter 15-day strike in 1997 that cost UPS some $750 million in lost revenue and thousands of lost Teamster jobs, and represented a victory for both UPS Chief Executive Mike Eskew and Teamsters President James R. Hoffa. UPS employs 230,000 Teamsters nationwide.
